When I was first thinking of starting this business, people didn’t seem to be very interested. That was probably about 8 years ago, PC (Pre-C0vid). The mainstream books offered to our kids at that time didn’t seem to be all that terrible, except for the fact that many of them were like Cheetos for the brain. Not really anything healthy, but kids thought they were fun to read. I think a lot of parents thought: “Well, at least they’re reading.” It may have gotten them reading, but it was often not great for their hearts and minds.
2020
But that’s nothing compared to what came about shortly after. Everything exploded after 2020. The blatant indoctrination of our children was now much more out in the open. The Left’s hidden agenda was not nearly as hidden anymore, and they weren’t ashamed about it.
Many of these people on the far Left didn’t have children of their own, but they wanted to influence the children of others to align with their ideology. Directly undermining the wishes of parents was thought to be somehow noble in their warped thinking. These people thought they were helping to free these children from the patriarchy, heteronormative behavior, and that backwards Christianity so many pledged fidelity to.
Books
This attack came in a number of different ways. But one that was definitely sneakier was through books. There will always be parents out there that aren’t as invested in their families. So they’re not going to get involved with what the schools are doing or what is taught there. However, there will also always be those families that are more involved that would either opt their children out of certain classes or they would just homeschool their children. Those children would seem to be more out of reach from these harmful cultural influences.
But as you all know, that’s not necessarily the case. Books are such a great tool to educate our children. So often, when our child is reading something, we may not even think to vet those books. Obviously, when the agenda is blatant (such as the title), those books are not allowed by the more involved parent(s). But you would not believe the number of books that are perniciously trying to normalize what should never be normalized. These books look fine on the outside, but subtly incorporate and normalize Leftist ideology. Whether that’s normalizing homosexuality, redefining families, or teaching modified history, it’s all undermining our Western values and traditions (which many are at their foundation Christian).
Mud Hen Mama
Thus why I started Mud Hen Mama. I can honestly say every book is vetted to be sure it doesn’t conflict with a Biblical Worldview. We have gone through many Christian booklists, sifted through Amazon reviews (the one or two star reviews can be very telling if you read between the lines), and looked on Screen It First most recently. The MHM standard is that the books must share something good, beautiful, and true.
Clearly, there are many books on our booklist that are unapologetically Christian. However, as I’m sure you can see when you go through our books, not all of the books are specifically sharing the gospel. But we have found that so much can be learned from classic, solid books! Christ can be seen throughout the pages of even secular writers when they are aligning themselves with Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.
But why now, LORD?
I have to admit, it can all feel so overwhelming and frustrating. There are so many more things we need to be concerned about now that the culture has gone from mostly Christian values to mostly Secular values. It makes me wonder, why LORD? Why does this have to happen all now? Life is hard, but with all that’s going on, it sure seems like it’s much harder to raise a family than it has been for any recent generations.
But then, I’m reminded that the LORD chose us to live at such a time as this (Esther 4:14). There’s always going to be something that the LORD’s people have to deal with. God has entrusted us with this time and place and culture. Rather than living frustrated and thinking to yourself, “You can come any day now LORD!” we must embrace this time we’ve been given.
Same same, but different
We may need to raise our children differently than past generations, but at the end of the day, that’s OK. Part of that is being much more cautious of what books our children and even ourselves are reading.
Another thing to keep in mind is that yes, most of these books can be purchased online at popular, less expensive sites. I realize that. But if we continue to support businesses that literally hate and undermine people with our convictions, we have no one to blame but ourselves for the continued deterioration of our culture.
We all know that Amazon is an incredibly convenient service. However, if we can use other businesses that actually support our values (or minimally doesn’t subvert our values) , we should definitely be supporting them directly.
Browse our collection of trusted titles here! Pick a few up for everyone in your family! Shop with confidence, knowing that each book nurtures faith, inspires purpose, and/or upholds truth.
